Additional Secretary of the Indian Ministry of External Affairs Munu Mahawar is coming to Nepal to hold talks on the Nepal-India energy issue.
He will arrive in Kathmandu tomorrow (Monday) to participate in the meeting of the two-country mechanism.
According to the secretariat of Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, preparations are underway to host the Secretary-level Joint Steering Committee (JSC) meeting on bilateral power sector cooperation in Pokhara on July 14–15. This upcoming session of the bilateral mechanism is being convened as part of its regular schedule.
Mahawar heads the Indian Ministry of External Affairs' North Division, which oversees relations with Nepal and Bhutan. Although the mechanism meeting was supposed to be held every 6 months, the meeting had not been held since February 2025 in New Delhi. Currently, 40 MW of electricity is being exported from Nepal to Bangladesh via India. Nepal is in favor of exporting more electricity. India's permission is required for this.
Similarly, there is a delay in the construction of the 220 kV capacity inter-country Chameliya-Jaulljibi double circuit transmission line. Although both countries are supposed to build the transmission line on their respective sides, the work has not progressed.
There are other issues to be resolved between the two countries in the energy sector.
Additional Secretary Mahawar is set to arrive in Nepal at a time when Prime Minister Balendra Shah's visit to India is being discussed. He is also scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal.
During Foreign Minister Shisir Khanal's visit to India last June, the issue related to the energy trade had also been discussed.
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